Do-it-yourself fire crew saves own neighborhood

• November
• 29

6:46 am Latest News, Vehicles

The professional firefighters did not roll up to Corral Canyon . So Matt Haines finally had his chance to rev up the private fire truck that he bought at a public surplus auction.

pumper truck and tanker truck of similar vintage helped a do-it-yourself fire brigade save a dozen homes as flames encircled their El Nido neighborhood.

As Haines sprayed water on homes on both sides of Sequit Drive, his neighbors used their own hoses to extinguish burning embers that rained from the sky and to douse shrubs and fencing as they caught fire. As it fought the blaze, the crew could see four homes fully engulfed on Sea Breeze Drive above them.

The fire here on Saturday burned west of the portions of Malibu hit by wildfire last month. As of Sunday morning, it had destroyed 49 homes, damaged 27, and caused at least 10,000 people to be evacuated, the Associated Press reported.

But in the El Nido neighborhood, the residents seemed prepared to help themselves. Bill Raffin pulled out his portable pump and started drawing water from a swimming pool. Ken Wherry unrolled a canvas fire hose and connected it to a hydrant up the street. Kai Chan stretched out smaller garden hoses and laid them in strategic places around houses.